Busy Days and Oatmeal Carrot Muffins

Okay, folks. The past few days have been pretty busy; Edgar's started rolling and that has really kept me on my toes. We're also starting to prep our apartment for some long-term residents to join us: my sister and her boyfriend! That's right, K and C are moving to Calgary! We couldn't be more excited.

As such, I decided to make muffins yesterday night. I don't really have time during the day to cook or do anything too substantial; Edgar's naps are a little too short to get too much done. Muffins always make a great snack for me during the day, because maintaining sufficient calories plays a big role in keeping my milk production (and energy!) high. Producing just one ounce of breastmilk requires 20-22 calories (depending on the information source). I produce over 40 ounces a day. You do the math!

These muffins turned out great, even with the changes I made to the original recipe, which can be found here. I used instant oats instead of rolled oats because I always have packets of plain oatmeal kicking around from the bulk boxes of Quaker instant oatmeal that I never get around to eating.

Oatmeal Carrot Muffins

Adapted by Vanessa from Dairy Goodness' recipe

Ingredients
1 cup fat-free Activia vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup skim milk
1 cup Quaker instant oats
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp grated orange rind (I actually forgot we had no oranges, so I had to skip this)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 °F (200 °C). Lightly butter or spay a nonstick 12-muffin pan.
In large bowl, add milk and yogurt to oats; stir to mix. Cover and let stand for 10 min.
Mix together carrots, brown sugar, butter, egg and orange rind; stir into oat mixture. In separate bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda; stir in raisins. Stir into batter just until moistened. Spoon into prepared muffin pans, filling almost to top.
Bake for 20 to 25 min or until tops are firm to the touch.